Davis' answer to California's energy crisis? Hire
a couple of Clinton-Gore hatchet men

http://www.jewishworldreview.com --
GOV. Gray Davis once said he was approaching California's
energy crisis the same way he plays golf--"one hole at a
time." This style of nonleadership clearly hasn't worked.
Portions of the state face up to 300 hours of life-threatening
blackouts this summer, the state's budget surplus was spent
in a fruitless effort to buy power so consumers wouldn't pay
higher prices, and the state's credit rating is now
embarrassingly low. Facing plummeting approval ratings, Gov.
Davis is switching his approach to that of a political attack
dog who will blame anyone but himself and Californians for
the energy mess.

Democrats "plan to begin using energy as their primary
weapon against President Bush," the Washington Post
reported yesterday, and they fired the first shells from their
big cannons last week. Now Gov. Davis--who has more than
$30 million in his campaign war chest--plans to spend
$30,000 a month of taxpayer money to hire two veteran
political spinners to advise him on energy. Mark Fabiani, Al
Gore's deputy campaign manager, and Chris Lehane, Mr.
Gore's press secretary, aren't experts in energy but they do
know smash-mouth politics. Both men were aggressive White
House aides who defended President Clinton during the many
scandals, including those that led to his impeachment. Their
firm is informally known as the Masters of Disaster.

On Thursday Mr. Davis showed he's become a good pupil of
the Masters. He accused President Bush of "allowing the
price-gouging energy companies, many of whom reside in
Texas to get away with murder." Mr. Lehane explained that
"we are literally in a war with these out-of-state
generators." Literally?

Bob Mulholland, a former Democratic National Committee
member from California, is thrilled at Mr. Davis's decision to
hire Messrs. Fabiani and Lehane and ratchet up the political
rhetoric. "This is a fight between Texas and California," he
says. "We're going to win. But it may take burning a Texas
flag or two."

So much for changing the tone or approach of the Clinton
years, during which all policy decisions were subordinated to
political considerations and the White House's only response
to political criticism was to demonize the opposition.

Republicans aren't the only ones outraged by Mr. Davis's
hiring of these political operatives. "He hasn't done anything
that is consistent with the democratic process," Harry
Snyder of Consumers Union says of California's governor. " It
is the worst abuse of power that I have seen in 25 years of
lobbying." Mr. Snyder notes that both Messrs. Fabiani and
Lehane spent the past two months working for Southern
California Edison, at a time when Mr. Davis was trying to
persuade the Legislature to accept his plan that would save
that utility from bankruptcy.

Such criticism is unlikely to deter Gov. Davis, let alone Mr.
Fabiani or Mr. Lehane. They showed they have strong
stomachs for trench warfare during last year's election
dispute, when both worked for the Gore campaign. Howard
Kurtz of the Washington Post, revealed that Mr. Gore
ordered his two aides to discredit Florida Secretary of State
Katherine Harris, when it became apparent she was going to
certify a Bush victory in Florida after an official recount.

Mr. Kurtz reported in December that in Mr. Fabiani's view, his
job was "to wield the hatchet so Gore could remain above
the fray." Mr. Kurtz reported in December. Bill Sammon, a
reporter with the Washington Times, observes that "Team
Gore went after Harris with chilling efficiency."

Mr. Fabiani said Ms. Harris was part of "an outrageous
attempt by Bush to steal the election." Mr. Lehane dismissed
her as a "lackey" whose behavior was akin to that of a
"Soviet commissar." Alan Dershowitz, the Harvard Law
professor who defended O.J. Simpson, declared her "a crook"
and "corrupt" on CNN. When I debated Mr. Dershowitz on
Court TV, I asked him what laws she had violated. He
answered with an incoherent sputter.

The lights may be going out all over California this summer,
but with the arrival of Mark Fabiani and Chris Lehane as Gov.
Davis's energy SWAT team, you can be sure the bonfires of
incendiary political rhetoric will burn brightly. Will it help Mr.
Davis? It certainly won't do Californians any good as they
watch the food in their freezers rot or sit in traffic jams
when the stoplights go
out.

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